Off-Duty Cop Charged With Murder After Allegedly Shooting Driver Fleeing From Fight

A South Carolina police officer was charged with murder Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a man who authorities said was trying to drive away after the two fought outside a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Summerville.

Summerville police Officer Anthony DeLustro, 64, was off-duty on March 20 when he shot 39-year-old Michael O’Neal in the parking lot after a physical confrontation between the men, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said in a news release Wednesday .

Witnesses said DeLustro started the fight, according to an arrest warrant attached to the SLED news release.

“Do you want to do this?” O’Neal said several times to DeLustro, a witness told investigators, according to the warrant. He responded by saying, “Come on,” addressing O’Neal with a gay slur.

Both men got out of their cars and exchanged kicks and punches as bystanders tried to intervene, the warrant states.

It is unclear what provoked the fight.

DeLustro then told O’Neal he was under arrest and showed him his police credentials, SLED said. During the scuffle, DeLustro’s handgun fell from its holster to the ground. When O’Neal said he was leaving and headed to his car, witnesses said, DeLustro threatened to shoot him.

DeLustro’s wife, who reportedly had tried to restrain O’Neal during the fight, also attempted to block him from getting in his car, witnesses said. DeLustro picked up his handgun and got into the passenger side of O’Neal’s car and shot him as O’Neal tried to drive away, according to the warrant. Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell said the bullet entered O’Neal’s right arm and traveled to his chest, killing him, South Carolina news station WCSC reported .

DeLustro told investigators that he acted in self-defense, the